Face-steaming appliance



:Marc'h 1931 w. J. OBIDINE 1,797,554

FACE S TEAMING APPLIANCE Filed Aug. 28. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Izaak 2119 L" Mum- March 24, 1931. w QBIDINE 1,797,554

FACE STEAMING APPLIANCE- Filed Aug. 28. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 24, 1931 WLADIMIRE J. onrmnn, or LOS ANGELES, cAmronnrA FACE-STEABIING; APPLIANCE Application filed August 28, 1929. Serial No. 388,947.

My invention is a face steaming appliance in which the steam is generated in the appliance itself, such appliance being fitted over a persons face.

An object of my invention is a face steaming device which may be placed over the face, in the form of a mask and has integrally connected therewith, a steam generating de vice so that the steam when generated comes. in contact with the skin'of a persons face and thus gives the functions of steaming the face such as in softening the beard for men and also as a face steaming appliance suitable for women in beautifying or treatment of the face. 1 Another object of my invention is a masklike device in which the steam is generated in the mask itself and-such mask is adapted to be worn over the face and by which medi- 2 cated vapors may be discharged from the steaming device and inhaled either through the nose or mouth, this being used for medicinal purposes,eith'er for men or women.

A still further object of my invention is.

the use of preferably an electric heater for generating steam, in which the flow of water to the generator may be graduated to flow' drop by drop and therefore the amount of steam generated may be readily controlled, so the wearer of the mask thus has control of'the rate at which the steam is developed and of the intensity of the application of the hot vapors to the skin of the face, or in medicinal treatments to the inhaling of the medicinal properties of the vapor; a

- A still further object of my invention is the construction of an appliance in several forms such as a'mask which may be worn over the chin, extending to a close fit at theneck and extending at the side of the face, front of the ears and under the nose. This is suitable for the use of men .in softening their beards preparatory to shaving. For

the use of barber's to soften the heard or for a face massage I provide another form of mask which is adapted for use on a person when in the recumbent position. This has preferably two steam generators, one on each side of the face, the mask preferably cover- :4 ing from underneath the chinclose to the neck to above the eyebrows and having a-nose. or mouthbreathing arrangement. Another object ofmy invention in a mask- 7 like'form of device to cover the major por: tion' of a persons face, is in employing a breathing opening which may surround the nose and allow breathing of fresh air without breathing the steam, or another arrangement by which a rubber nipple may be gripped by the mouth and a'llow breathing through the mouth, this beingadaptedparticularly for medicinal treatments in. which the wearer may breath unmedicated air when the medicatedvapors are found to be objectionable.

The design ofappliance for'use for medicated vapors preferably encloses the major portion of the face, reaching from below the chin to above the eyebrows and on both sides well back to the ears. i 7

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings,in which I Figure 1 is a front elevation of the general form of mask, showing this in the position when worn; I Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly broken away of the mask ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 isa side elevation partly broken away of a modification. ofthe full face mask, having an opening for'the nose, for breath mg; l

. Fig.4 is a modification of the construction of Fig. 3, having a breathing aperture forv the mouth;

Fig. 5

a side elevation partly broken away, of a steaming appliance for use when a taken in 'the'dire ction of the arrow 6;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through one formof steam generator;

Fig. 8'is a section on the linef 88 of Fig 7 7 ,in the direction of the'arrows;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line9-9 ofFig. 7 in the direction'of the arrows; Figs. 10 and llare a plan and section respectively of an alternative form of heater.

Referring first to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this illustrates a mask 11 which is formed with a front wall 12, a rear wall 13, a lower end connection 14 and side erably has a bead 19 formed of rubber or the like with a rubber flap 20 to engage the face and form a more or less steam-tight connection. A series of openings 21'are provided at the top of the sides for the escape of steam and in order to secure the mask to the head, an eye 22 is secured to the upper end of the sides and has straps 23 which extend over the head. These straps are adjust able in order to adjust the device to different size heads.

The steaming device comprises a steam generator designated generally by the numeral 24 which generator is illustrated as being electrically heated, the current being conducted to the" generator by a flexible cable 24;.

The water is fed to the steam generator fro-in a reservoir 25 which is molded to the front wall of the mask. This reservoir has a filling cap 26 and the outlet is controlled by a valve 27 having a-valve stem 28 with a knurled knob. The water is adapted to discharge from the reservoir through a small pipe 29. i

A satisfactory form of steam generator is formed with a cylindrical wall80 having a flangeBO' at the bottom with adepending structure 31 through which extends the electric cables or cords 24. A switch housing 32 is mounted on the flange and has two switches controlled by movable buttons 33. These are of a conventional type and each controls a circuit to inner and outer electric heating coils s4. and '35 imbedded in porcelain or equivalent insulator 36. Above the coils is a pan 3'? into which the Water drips from the discharge nozzle 38 leading from the pipe '29 through the cover 39 and the cap 40. The upper portion of the pan is provided with a series of perforations 41 and surrounding the upper portion of the cylindrical strucf ture 29 there are a series of steam openmgs 42. The cylindrical structure has a flange l3 by whichit may be connected through the bottom of 'the mask. f

VVit-h this construction of the appliance, the person using it -may .place'the mask "on the face and this encloses the -chin,the sides of the face andthe upper lip. The heat may be turned on either one or both of the 'coils, these being designed to givea low, medium and high heat and asthe water is allowed to drip'from the reservoir-drop by drop into the pan, this isevaporated and turned into steam substantially immediately. One of't'hecoils may be forllow heatpthe other coil for another temperature and the two coils together would give the high heat. The steam being injected through the holes 42 flows up the sides of the face, up the chin and also steams the underside of the chin, thus an effective steaming may be obtained to soften the beard for purpose of shaving and while the mask is being worm the party using same may prepare his shaving utensils so that the device materially facilitates home shaving in that the steaming device effectively softens the bear before application of the soap to make an enlarged breathing tube, 48 which is adapted to allow breathing through the nose, the tube having a relatively tight fitagainst the upper lip and around the nose. The tube is held expanded and pressed against the face by the coil spring 49. In this construction there are two depending structures 50 on each side, each having an electric steam generating unit51. Each of these is provided With an electric heaterwith the pan and each with a separate reservoir independently control-i lable. By this construction the barber may start the appliance genera-ting steam and the person to be shaved by controlling the valves on each side, may regulate the amount of steam being applied-to the face, thus preventing too high a temperature which might cause a species of burn, but-still heating and moistening the beard. After shaving the barber may apply the mask again to steam th'eface; i i

In the construction of Fig.3, the mask 52 is constructed with a rim fitting under the chin as indicated at..53 and against the forehead as indicated at '54, the sides fitting against the sides of the face close to the ears as indicated at 55. This has a steam generator 56 which may be of the same general type'as illustrated'in the prior figures. It is provided with a nose breathingienlarged tube 57- expanded by a spring 58 and pressed This type is of consider against the face. ablense in steaming the wholeof the face and allowing the person to breathe freely through-the nose. 1

In Fig. a tli'e mask 59 is of the same general character and construction as shown in Fig. It is provided witha breathing :tube 60 which preferably has a rubber nipple 61 on the end which may-be placed intheimouth so that the person :using the wdevice may breathe through the mouth whenrthey de sire fresh air or breathe through the inese when desiring to breathe medicated 'airQ The device of Figs. 3 and 4 are particularly adapted to steam the whole face as well as for use in breathing medicated vapors. The device of Fig. 3 is particularly adapted for breathing medicated vapors through the mouth and fresh air through 'thenose and the device of Fig. 4 isparticularly adapted for breathing medicated vapors through the nose and fresh air through the mouth. In both of these constructions the generation of steam may be controlled by the person using the device, by controlling the valve and the electric heat.

- In order to provide a flow of air through the device as well as steam, the depending structure 31 of the steam generator is provided with a series of apertures 62 and the metal plate 63 supporting the porcelain insulator 36 also has aseries of openings 64. A certain amount of air therefore can circulate through the apertures 62, 64 and 41 in the pan passing out with the steam through the Openings 42 into the interior of the mask.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I show an alternative form of heater using a pan 65 similar to the pan in the construction of. Fig. 7 and on the top of this pan I have a heating coil 66 which is formed of a metal tube 67 having a heating wire 68 threaded thereto, the wire being insu lated from the metal of the tube. With this construction the tube is heated by the current passing through the wire and the water drops into the pan and possibly some on the tube itself. This allows a simpler construcion of mounting for the pan. The heating elements may be arranged to give a plurality of difierent degrees of temperature.

In order to control the flow of air through the mask and the escape of steam, I provide a control valve designated generally by the numeral 70, in the side of the mask. This valve has an angular plate 71 having its lower cornerpivoted on-a stud 72, which stud may be one of those used to support the eye 22. The valve is provided witha series of apertures 7 3 which are adapted to align with the openings 21 in the sides of the mask or to be positioned between these openings or any desired degree of opening. The movement of the plate is controlled by a stud 74 extending from the plate through a slot 75 in the upper part of the side of the mask. This valve at the top controls mainly the overflow of the steam and also the heated air which rises upwardly in the mask.

'In addition to controlling the flow of air into the bottom of the mask, I provide-a slip ring 7 6 fitting in the bottom of the steam generator, preferably resting on the plate forming the depending structure 31 having the aperture 62. This slip ring has a series-of apertures 76 and may be partly rotated by the stud 77 which projects through a slot in the depending structure 31. By shifting the the flow of air into the mask.

stud, the ring 7 6 may he slipped in a rotarymanner so that the apertures 62 may be made to align with the apertures 7 6 or to be out of register therewith or in any intermediary position. This construction gives control of An important characteristic of my invention is in the feature of the waterreservoir being enclosed and attached in a fixed position relative to the steam generator and having a controlvalve whereby water may be allowed to drop'into the steam generator drop by drop, which generator may be heated'to such a temperature that the water is immediately turned into steam. Thus a person may usemy face mask witha steam generator in a recumbentposition. There is no danger of having the water overflow and wet the persons clothin The small amount ofair which is necessary to'enter the water reservoir may be allowed to fiow in by hav-' ing the cap 26 sufficiently loose to allow slight passage of air. 7

Another important feature and characteristic of my invention is that the air for ventilation purposes is intermingled directly with the steam and the flow of such air is readily regulated. This prevents jets ofhot steam from striking any particularpart of persons face, but they are able to have a distributedmoist heat.

Various changes may be made in the priniples of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof as set forth in'the description, drawings and claims.-

I claim: r 1. A device as described, comprisingjin combination ama'sk-like device adapted to cover part of a persons face, a steam generator at the bottom of the mask having a pan,'electric heating units and means to'cir culate air. upwardlyinto the mask'through the steam generator, a closed reservoir connected to one side of the mask on the inside and having a filler opening witha cover on theoutside, a valve'connected to the outlet from thereservoir and having a control ele-' ment outside of'the mask,'means to'drop wa ter after passing the valve into the pan and a suspending means to attach the mask to a persons head. i

2. A device as described, comprising incombination a mask-like device adapted to enclose at least part of a persons face and having a steam generator connected to the bottompsaid generator having a tubular of the steam generator and the inside of the mask, a closed'water reservoir connected to one side of the mask and having. "a filling opening witha cap-on the outside, a valve con- L combination a mask-like structure adapted to engage a persons skin, a steam generator connected to the mask, a closed water reservolr connected tozthe mask and wlth a filling opening with a-closure outside of the mask, a valve having a control for the water from the reservoir to the generator, electric heating unitsv for the generator, and a ventilating structure connected to the generator whereby fresh air intermingles with the steam in the generator.

4. A device as described, comprising a mask-like structure having edge portions to engage undera persons chin, the side of the faceand the upper lip under the nose,-a steam generator mounted in the bottom of the mask, a closed water reservoir'secured to one side of the mask and having a filling opening with a closure cap on the outside of the mask, a valve connecting the reservoir and the generator withan operating stem extending outside of the mask, and electric heating units forthe steam generator. Y

5. In a deviceas described, a structure connected to a mask and having a steam generatorin the bottom, said generator having a peripheral wall, a water pan connected thereto having marginal openings, an electric heating unit below the pan, a closed reservoir connected to the structure, means to drip water from .the reservoir on to the pan, the

wall of the steam generator having .-ventilating openingsabove the pan for outlet of steam and air into the mask and'a controllable means to passa-ir through the openings in the pan.

6. A device as describedcomprisingamasklike device adapted to enclose at least part of a persons face, the said mask having an edge to contact with the face, a steam generator attached to the bottom of the mask and being movable therewith, a closed water reservoir attached to one side of the mask and having a control valve to regulate the flow of water from the reservoir to the generator, and means to circulate air from the bottom of the mask.

50 upwardly inside of such mask.

7. A device as described comprising in comblnation a mask-llke device having an edge to fitunder a persons chin, two edges to extend upwardly over the sides of the face,means to .55 attach the mask to the head, enclosing at least the chin, a steam generator in the bottom of the mask having an electric heater, a closed water reservoir attached to the mask and having a filling opening on the outside, and means extending outwardly from the mask to control the flow of water from the reservoir to the generator.

8. A device as described comprising in combination a. mask-like device adapted to en- .66 close at least part of a persons face and'having a steam generator, a closed water reservoir attached to the mask and having a filling opening, means to flow water under control from the reservoir to the generator, the generator having holesto discharge steam into the mask, and means to flow air in the said holes from the mask.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

VVLADIMIRE J. OBIDINE. 

